Frat Boys
by hardxfreakinxcore
Summary: Partially AU. L enrolls into Light’s college. Also a man of many secrets, how will he manage to play off Hideki Ryuga, class genius and tennis extraordinaire, while continuing his investigation of Light without drawing attention to himself? Not slash.


**New story. Hopefully, it's one that will be written with much more care and effort than my other crap from two years ago. I've got this story all planned out with a 3000 word story outline, and I'm planning to add more to it. This is going to be fourteen chapters long, not including this one. I'm not great at updating with consistence, due to my schoolwork and sports, but this is taking top priority with all my stories and I do plan on updating this as soon as possible, still giving me enough time to write to the best of my ability.**

**I don't own Death Note. Aw. **

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Blessings can arrive in the strangest, simplest, and even the most seemingly inconvenient of ways. Sometimes it requires a drastic shift of environment to realize how many opportunities have been lost, but also to realize that there are many more opportunities to come. Sometimes life needs to be turned upside-down in order to see things right side up. Once that pivotal, life-changing epiphany has been experienced, however, one can't help but mourn over the wasted moments of a troubled past, and that cruel, unavoidable truth that eventually plagues the minds of us all: 

Life is too short. At some point, even the most hardened or isolated individuals must face this fact. This law of nature eventually held true for a certain prodigal detective who preferred to identify himself with a single letter rather than his birth name.

Granted, that particular course of action might not have been his personal preference. This man bore the weight of the title, "World's Greatest Detective," on his shoulders and opted to investigate only the most remarkably intriguing (or well-paying) mysteries. Therefore, it can be assumed that he would not be popular among those with criminal records. He had almost an obligation to create an alias for himself. This obligation was derived not only for his own life's sake, but also, in the big picture, for decreasing the world's crime rate and for enforcing justice.

And so "L" was born. But he carried much more on his shoulders than his world-renowned title. As his reputation increased in its notoriety, L also carried the hopes of a world wanting desperately to be freed from eternal submission to its ruthless captors: Rape, Murder, Robbery, Battery, and Molestation, among others. After studying a considerable amount of pictures depicting mangled corpses from crime scenes, one can only wonder what sort of mental anguish the enigmatic genius must be subjected to on a regular basis.

Then again, would it be entirely right to conclude that L experiences any sort of mental anguish to begin with? No one knows anything about him; both L's personality and background have remained a mystery to the public. Is he an exceptionally clever agent, hired by the government and trained to investigate unsolvable cases, handling each new challenge with the same cold indifference as the previous one, his primary concern being his next payment? Or does he fit into the average detective role, typified by a strong sense of justice motivating him to devote his entire life to aiding those in need, and seeing that those who inflict pain on others will pay their dues? Perhaps he is a sick type of sadist born with a gifted mind, seeking refuge from the rather dull progression and repetition of daily life by pushing his mind to the limit.

No one knows, and will ever know, except for the man behind the infamous "L." Then again, it is quite possible that he doesn't know either. Maybe even he has lost sight of his true identity, acting behind his own beautifully crafted persona, the line between himself and "L" gradually distorting as his detective work took over his life.

These are the questions the public has raised in reference to L's being, or maybe even questions he has, at one point, raised about himself.

However, L was handed the opportunity of a lifetime - taking form as a petty, former obligation demanding his attention. In this tale of conflict, of laughs, and of self-discovery, L finally gained insight into the one question that even his brilliant deductive mind could not answer -

Who was he, _really? _

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**Please review! All types of comments are welcome! If you see anything that doesn't sound right or that can be fixed, please let me know! I'm trying to improve my writing, so constructive criticism is welcome! Just make sure you can back up your criticisms instead of randomly pointing something out. Please and thank you! **

**Next chapter sets the story in motion. This is just a nice little introduction I wanted to post before anything else, to set the stage. In the next chapter, the college issue is brought up with L and Light. It's called "Cornered." Be on the look out for it!**

Oh, and just to clear up any confusions, this takes place after episode 17 but before the Yotsuba arc. This is partially AU because it stretches out the time in between these two events. This means that Light has no recollection of the notebook, too.


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